Growth Coach for Families, Businesses, and Churches

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Ignoring for Success

This week I want to share with you a great quote Tim Ferriss shared recently. The quote talks about a secret of success and happiness that may sound like an contradiction but is really a valuable tool:

“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.” Robert J. Sawyer.

You hear a lot about ignorance in the news, you hear about people saying how wrong it is to be ignorant, and to an extent it is wrong to be ignorant, there are lots of things that go on in the world that more people should be aware of but aren’t. But there’s a big difference between being ignorant and ignoring things. When you choose to ignore something it doesn’t mean that you don’t know it exists, you just choose to separate yourself from it. You may ignore your kids because they’re asking you the same question they’ve been asking you for the last 5 minutes and you’ve already answered with a specific answer (not “I don’t know” or “Because I said so”). You may ignore the calories or sugar in a food item because you’ve eaten healthy all day and can have a treat. You may ignore the hurtful words that someone said because they weren’t said to help you and aren’t even true. Again, you’re not refusing to accept that things happened or things that are facts, you’re choosing to block them out.

When you choose to ignore something you’ve now got the time and ability to focus on things that actually matter to you and things that you can do something about. When you ignore your emails except for the 2 or 3 times you’ve scheduled into your day, when you ignore your phone for an hour to buckle down and finish up a project, when you ignore the temptation of the food that’s not good for you on the supermarket shelves, when you ignore the people who don’t love and support you, you’re able to get things done, eat healthier, have better relationships, and be happier because you’re not doing the things that hold you back, distract you or make you sick or sluggish. Is there something in your life that you could ignore even for a period of time each day that would make you more successful or happier?